


That's the Way I Like it and I'll Never Get Bored

by anactualforrealadult



Series: All Star verse [5]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Gay Zuko (Avatar), Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, this is just self indulgent, this is just straight cotton candy fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27769681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anactualforrealadult/pseuds/anactualforrealadult
Summary: “Zuko?”“Yeah?”A deep breath.  “I love you.”Zuko and Sokka have a long distant date that comes with certain revelations
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: All Star verse [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900495
Comments: 41
Kudos: 177





	That's the Way I Like it and I'll Never Get Bored

**Author's Note:**

> This story is for HicSuntDracones! They wrote the most wonderful comments on the rest of the works in this series (and several other of my works) so here is all my love in return <3

Zuko had always been incredibly bad at lying. His whole life, everyone around him could easily tell when he wasn’t telling the truth, or was even simply keeping a secret. This had been more than simply inconvenient as he was growing up, and had often wished he had even half the skill that Azula had at the ability. 

Which is why he was incredibly glad that Sokka had been giving him tips over the last few years to help him, because he was fairly certain his father would not approve his current choices this night. He pulled into a deserted corner of the park, sent a quick text, and propped his phone up on the dashboard, waiting for the expected response.

The main rule of lying that Sokka had taught him was that it was easier to lie when you were actually telling the truth. Telling the truth would make the lie come across as, well, more truthful. So, when Zuko’s father had asked what he was doing when he left the house, Zuko told him the truth: he was going on a date. After that, it was a simple matter of letting his father reach his own conclusions and not correcting him. After all, there was no harm in letting his father believe that he was going on a date with a girl, and not his best-friend-now-boyfriend.

Just as Zuko finished setting out the contents of his fast food meal on the passenger seat, his phone flashed with an incoming video call from Sokka. Zuko could feel his heart beat just a bit faster at the sight and took a deep breath before answering. He wasn’t sure why he felt nervous, it wasn’t like this was their first date, or that they hadn’t been best friends and roommates for two years. Maybe it wasn’t nerves after all. At twenty one, he should be able to distinguish between fear and excitement, but he was so used to feeling one that he sometimes forgot about the other.

Sokka’s face appeared on the screen, and now Zuko was sure his feelings were those of excitement. His boyfriend was also sitting in a car, though he couldn’t quite tell where, and was holding a plastic cup filled with bright teal liquid.

“Hi boyfriend,” Sokka said coyly with a sip of his drink, leaning comfortably against the driver door. “How are you doing this fine evening?” He sounded like he was in a bad porno.

Zuko rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but let a small snort slip. “I can’t believe I’m dating someone who can drink that monstrosity unironically.”

Sokka sat up straighter at that, pure indignation on his face. “Hey! Respect the Blast! Your bougie pallet can’t handle the awesomeness of this exquisite culinary creation!” He gesticulated wildly, his Baja Blast sloshing precariously in the cup, but a smile quickly broke through his fake anger and Zuko couldn’t help but giggle a little.

“Sorry, but I don’t think that anything served at Taco Bell can be considered ‘culinary’ or ‘exquisite’,” Zuko knew there was a dumb smile on his face now, but he couldn’t care. “I’ll concede that they could be classified as ‘creations’ though, in the same way Frankenstein’s monster was.”

“Spirits, you’re such a nerd, you’re lucky you’re so cute.” Sokka’s face was so adoring, and Zuko felt himself blush at the blatant endearment. No matter how many times he heard Sokka complement him, it was still hard to believe that he didn’t need to tell himself it was just friendly. There was no more keeping from getting his hopes up, because Sokka made a point to regularly remind Zuko that he wanted this relationship and had the same mushy feelings as Zuko. The only heartache left was that they weren’t in the same physical location, kept apart by the evils of summer internships and nearly 3,000 miles of mountains and cornfields. 

“If any of us is a nerd, it’s the one who just committed to staying at Princeton for a graduate program in a degree I can’t even pronounce.” Zuko shot back after composing himself. “I’m the one in Finance who hates math.”

Sokka took a sip of bright liquid. “That’s true, I’ll never understand how someone who can’t calculate tips got into the Finance program at Princeton freaking University.” Another sip. “Still a nerd though.”

“It was _one_ time! And I was _stupid_ drunk!” Zuko didn’t even pretend to be mad, giggling along with Sokka at the memory.

The boys fell into regular conversation after that, comparing meals for the evening (Sokka with some strange personalized Taco Bell invention, Zuko with a sensible Wendy’s chicken sandwich) and catching up with the past week. They texted almost constantly of course, somehow increasing in regularity since making their relationship official three weeks prior, but there were always things that were easier to talk about or explain in person. Well, virtual in-person. 

Before long, the food was finished, and the conversation was beginning to lull, until a comfortable silence took over the call. With anyone else, the silence would soon make Zuko become antsy and nervous, but with Sokka he felt safe and content. Plus, he could happily stare at those sea blue eyes all night long without saying a word.

Surprisingly, Sokka was the one who started looking a bit uncomfortable and nervous after a period of silence. Zuko recognized the look on his face, having spent enough time studying his friend’s face to know the difference in moods. Sokka wanted to say something, but was holding his tongue.

“Everything ok?” Zuko tried to sound light, but his worry was close to the surface. 

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine,” Sokka suddenly snapped back to a smile, but it slowly morphed into something a little more anxious. Which was strange role reversal.

“There’s, uh, I just, um, I wanted to tell you something?” Sokka finally stammered out. “It’s nothing bad!” He quickly added. “But I’m also concerned that it might freak you out and I want to be able to explain because it’s not actually a big deal but it is but-“

“Sokka,” Zuko interrupted. “Please just say it before we both have a panic attack.”

Sokka seemed to pull himself back together, but didn’t say anything for a few moments, looking very serious. Zuko thought his heart might try to strangle him at any moment.

“Zuko?”

“Yeah?”

A deep breath. “I love you.”

Zuko was immensely glad that Sokka took a pause after that declaration because his brain simply stopped functioning for a moment. It was far from the first time Sokka had said this to him over the past two years. But it _was_ the first time he had said it since they had started their relationship. Giving it a whole new meaning. Oh boy. Was his heart still beating? It was hard to tell if it had stopped or was beating too fast to register.

“Ok I can see the 404 error in your eyes, let me explain.” Sokka said in a sudden rush. “So, like obviously, I’ve told you I love you before, and you know that I’m not shy about telling people that I love them, like that’s a family thing, you know that, we all believe in saying ‘I love you’ to people and not holding that back because you never know when you won’t be able to again.” He continued rambling on, barely taking a breath. “But like, obviously telling my best friend that I love them is different from telling my boyfriend that I love them, and I recognize that it’s supposed to be like this big relationship milestone, but it just doesn’t feel right not telling you that I love you? Like, just because I started dating you doesn’t mean I stopped loving you? So it feels stupid to hold that back because WOW I really do love you because you’re my best friend and the person I care about most deeply outside my family, so I want to be able to tell you that just as often as I used to.” Sokka’s eyes darted around him as he spoke, looking pretty much anywhere except for Zuko’s face, clearly less confident than his normal self.

Zuko, meanwhile, was trying to process his boyfriend’s sudden speech, unsure what he should say in response. On one hand, he was absolutely overwhelmed with emotion that Sokka _loved_ him. His whole life had taught him to not take love for granted or as a given, and there was a small part of him whispering that he didn’t deserve Sokka’s love. But if his boyfriend wanted to freely tell him that he loved Zuko, who was he to stop him? He wouldn’t pass a lie detector if he said he hadn’t missed hearing those words from Sokka the last few weeks, even though it meant something slightly different back then.

His mind was about to process the other hand (the response needed to keep Sokka saying _I love you_ forever) when his boyfriend suddenly launched into speaking again, having taken a brief pause to catch his breath.

“I don’t want you to feel that you have to say it back. I know love is precious to you, and it’s hard for you to reciprocate, it took you forever to accept me saying it to you the first time, and even longer for you to say it back, and I know that saying it with new meaning will be even harder for you because your brain is dumb and says you don’t deserve it. But you _do_ deserve it and if you let me, I’ll keep saying it with no strings attached, no need for you to do anything for me to keep saying it.” Another gulp of breath while Zuko sat dumbfounded. Blue eyes suddenly widened at Zuko’s silence. “Unless you don’t want me to say it! Like if it makes you too uncomfortable or whatever I can pull it back-“

“NO!” Zuko finally found his voice. “No, no, please you can say it. I want you to say it. I-I really like it.” He could feel a blush creeping over his face but he didn’t care, he didn’t want to live in a world where Sokka would stop saying that he loved Zuko.

Nerves visibly slipped off Sokka’s face, replaced with a wide smile. He nodded. 

“Okay. I think I can do that.”

A blush was barely visible on his darker skin, but Zuko could see the lightest tint of color rise on Sokka’s cheeks. They finally found the ability to look at each other in the eyes, which was magical for the five seconds before they both burst out into giggles. Zuko was sure anyone walking by would think he was a crazy person, laughing alone in his car, but knowing that Sokka was in the same position made him feel less self-conscious. It also made him laugh harder. 

Zuko felt like there were bubbles of light in his chest, popping and fizzing throughout his body. It was the foreign feeling of love. He never wanted to stop feeling it. And Sokka had given him a way to feel it on command.

“Will you say it again? Please?”

“What, that I love you?” Sokka got out between giggles.

Just hearing the phrase in the sentence made Zuko melt further.

“Yes, please.”

Sokka pulled himself together, but kept his smile. His beautiful stunning smile that Zuko thought was brighter than the California sun. 

“Zuko, I love you.”

More bubbles bursting in his chest.

“Again?”

“I love you.” The giggles were starting to break from Sokka again.

“One more time?”

“So needy.” Sokka brought his phone closer to his face. “I. Love. You.”

It was incredible how just three words could complete break down the carefully crafted walls Zuko kept up around him. Twenty one years of tireless practice of keeping everyone just slightly out of reach, completely failing him just for the beautiful man on his phone screen. He had built the walls to keep himself safe, physically and emotionally, but he was willing to pull it down brick by brick, be utterly vulnerable, because Sokka _loved_ him. And there was no doubt in Zuko’s mind that Sokka really, truly, meant it. 

On Sokka’s side of the call, a pinging alarm went off that turned his face into a scowl. He swiped his screen, and gave Zuko an apologetic look. 

“Sorry, babe, I promised the parental units I wouldn’t stay out too late. We’re doing early fishing in the morning, and I’ve been threatened with the pain of gutting duty if I fall asleep in the boat again.”

“Well we can’t be having that.” Zuko sighed. “You’ll text me when you get home safe?”

“Dude, I’m literally sitting in my driveway right now.” Sokka giggled.

“Wait what?” Zuko was thrown off. “You literally went out to get fast food and then sat in your driveway this whole time?” 

“Well, I hated that you were having to hide out in your car so I wanted to join you.” Sokka was blushing again. Zuko’s heart warmed at the gesture.

“Well…thanks…I’ll text you when _I_ get home then.” Zuko gave a small wave to the screen. 

“I look forward to it sweetcheeks.” Sokka gave a wave as well, but paused. “Oh! I almost forgot something!”

“What?” Zuko raised an eyebrow.

“I love you.” Sokka winked before quickly ending the call.

Zuko stared at the blank screen for a moment in shock. He leaned his seat back all the way and put his head in his hands before letting out a squeal that his father would call disgraceful. But what else was he supposed to do after hearing his boyfriend say “I love you” _TEN_ separate times? 

Later that night, Zuko found himself in the same position (quieter this time), still reeling over the events of the date while lying in bed. He had managed to avoid questions from Azula and his father when he returned home, and had texted with Sokka a bit before forcing his boyfriend to actually get some sleep before his fishing trip. But Zuko couldn’t find sleep. Not when there was something his heart was begging him to do. 

After fighting with anxiety for a bit longer, Zuko finally sat up and reached for his phone, giving in to his intense desire. A quick taps typed out the short message, a deep breath steadied him, and one more tap sent the message. 

_Zuko to Favorite Asshole_

_10:34 PM_

_I love you._

Zuko let out another breath. Sokka wouldn’t see the message until morning. He was secure in his move, his heart was at peace. 

The moment he had settled under the soft comforter, his phone lit up the dark room with an incoming call. Zuko answered without hesitation.

“Sokka you literally have to be awake in five-“

“I LOVE YOU TOO ZUKO!”

The line went dead. Zuko stared at his phone for a moment before throwing his face in his pillow, hoping it would smother the sounds of his delight.

Eleven times.

“Wait, you seriously told Dad ‘I love you’ for the first time over _text_? What kind of asshole does that?!”

Zuko was covering his face like he had on that night long ago, but this time it was out of mortification.

“Can’t believe I’m getting told off for my relationship choices by my ten year old.”

Sokka pointed his chopsticks at Izumi. “Hey, cut your old man some slack! I know it took a lot of bravery for him to say it at all, he wasn’t the same confident and assured Papa you have now.”

“Thanks, that really makes the situation seem better,” Zuko muttered from behind his hands. “I regret everything.”

“You probably should.” Izumi was back to slurping her noodles. “And to think that Dad proposed to _you_.”

“Of course I proposed to him,” Sokka pulled a hand from his husband’s face and kissed his knuckles. “I love him.”

Zuko felt a shiver run through his body. He had lost count of the number of times he had heard it, but it never failed to melt him. 

“I love you too.” Zuko leaned over to give his husband a kiss.

“You’re both gross.” Izumi made a face at the display.

“You called me an asshole not thirty seconds ago, we can be as gross as we want.” Zuko grabbed his husbands face and made a show of kissing him deeply enough to make their daughter shout her disgust in retaliation. Before long it was too hard to keep kissing through their laughter and the random harmless objects that Izumi had thrown at them. 

Life had never been better.


End file.
